Posts Tagged ‘The Great Hunger’

Dr. Alan Ferinhough, a lecturer and economic historian at Queen’s University Belfast, recently created an animation of the evolution of Ireland’s population density from 1841 to 2012 showing how the population still hasn’t recovered from the effects of the Great Hunger. In 1841, before the famine struck, the population of Ireland was around 7 million,Read more..

Hunter College High School student Benjamin “Benjy” Firester was awarded $25,000 for a unique research project that predicts the patterns of movement of the phytophthora infestans – the mold that brought about Ireland’s Great Hunger in the mid-19th century. Firester competed against 1,800 other students in the Regeneron Science Talent Search with his revolutionary computerRead more..

The Irish Hunger Memorial was re-opened in late July 2017 after a year-long, $5.3 million renovation. The structure had suffered extensive water infiltration, particularly from 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, which it had not been equipped to handle in its original state. The restoration cost $4.5 million more than the initial placement of the structure, which was unveiledRead more..

The long-awaited Irish Great Hunger movie Black 47 premiered in February at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. The movie is expected to open in Ireland later this year and though there has not yet been any official word on an American release date, it’s a safe bet this all-important film will cross the Atlantic. Though itRead more..

Roscommon was one of the hardest hit counties during the Famine, losing 31 percent of its population. ℘℘℘ In 1845, County Roscommon was one of the first counties to record the appearance of the blight in the locality. The return of the disease the following year – earlier in the season and more lethal – resultedRead more..

Aseries of art pieces portraying the struggle for survival aboard the “coffin ships” on which 1.5 million Irish escaped the Great Hunger are now on display at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Connecticut. The exhibit, Fleeing Famine: Irish Immigration to North America, 1845-1860, includes six oil paintings of the harrowing, often-deadly conditionsRead more..

The Choctaw Native American tribe and Irish people have a complex and nuanced relationship that has stretched across the centuries. Their histories of displacement and recovery inform and strengthen one another by providing a system of cooperation, generosity, and faith in the resilience of the human spirit. ℘℘℘ Eyewitness accounts of the Trail of TearsRead more..

The community of Eugene, California welcomed the state’s first Irish Hunger Memorial at its dedication ceremony in Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in September. It was the product of efforts by the Irish Cultural Society of Stanislaus County and the San Francisco Chapter of the Irish American Unity Conference, and about 100 locals were present to seeRead more..

A variety of potato engineered to be resistant to the pathogen that caused the Great Irish Potato Famine has been approved for deregulation by the USDA. The J.R. Simplot Company’s so-called Innate potato is more resistant to bruising and black spots than most varieties. When cooked at high temperatures, this potato also produces less acrylamide,Read more..

An estimated 600-900 neglected and forgotten Famine-era graves were discovered in Massachusetts in September when Rhode Islander Annie McMullen was attempting to trace her husband’s Irish ancestry in New England. McMullen’s journey to discovery began several years ago when she became interested in learning more about her in-laws’ journey from Ireland to the U.S. She soon learnedRead more..